What an idiot! After all this merger BS, his vowing not to support it, then flip flopping, saying we needed more officers for County, then saying we have more, now this. No wonder LE is in such a mess, between him and Bart.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/13457330/detail.html

Does Indy Have Enough Officers? Sheriff Requests Study
Anderson Hopes To Have Answer By Budget Time

POSTED: 9:36 pm EDT June 6, 2007

Email This Story | Print This Story
Sign Up for Breaking News Alerts

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sheriff Frank Anderson this week contracted Indiana University to do a study on how many police officers Indianapolis should have.

Since the Marion County Sheriff's Department merged with city police in January to create the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, police response times have slowed, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

An IMPD staffing report shows the department has at least 120 unfilled law enforcement positions, many of which are for street officers. Anderson, who oversees IMPD, said he wants to make sure the city has the number of officers it needs.

"We're not in a crisis mode to the extent that we're so short of police officers. I'm trying to ... make sure the citizens of Marion County get the best public safety that they're due," Anderson said.

Police have had less time for preventative patrols since the merger, Rinehart reported. Marion County's Coalition of Neighborhood Associations has expressed high satisfaction with individual officers but frustration with the department.

"I don't know that the merger was necessarily a bad thing, (but) I don't think it was carefully thought through, and I think that is part of the problems that we're suffering right now," said the association's president, Cathy Burton.

Anderson said he hopes the study is finished in August, when the City-County Council begins hearings on its next budget.